working with my dog

[rchaze60]

I am wanting some info on training my dog... what if any dvd's are good to learn from  I want to turn him into a bird dog.. keep in mind he has had no training what so ever.... any help with this would be greatful


 Randy

[Mayfly]

Type of dog? How old is he?

[rchaze60]

golden retriver  16 months old

[hosegsp]

go to lion country supplies website! i think it is lcs.com under dvd's! ::

[nolmscheid]

I am also going to be training a golden retriever. (well I have started to introduce things, he is only 8 weeks old, so no true training has been done yet) I have the Mike Lardy DVD's. They are geared more towards field trials, but the fundamentals are the same for any type of hunt training. There are MANY other good DVD's as well. It is best to stick to someones system and then try and follow that system to the end. Each DVD usually has a reason for everything and by staying with the same training method you might have better luck.

I have trained dogs and love training, but this will be my first field/water dog training.

THe Mike Lardy DVD's are kind of pricy, but well worth it. I have the Total Retriever Training, Total Retriever Marking, and the eCollar DVD which I think is EXCELLENT.

[Buster]

ANYONE! I NEED HELP!

I have a 16 month Golden as well. Got him at 4 months. First attempt at dog training. Started him right away. Had a Wolters book and picked up a Wolters Gun Dog video. Took him out last season at 8 months for exposure to upland. have worked him for 2 seasons at game farm.

PROBLEM!
HE DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE THE DRIVE TO BE A HUNTER. USES HIS NOSE AT HOME BUT DOESN'T GET TURNED ON IN THE FIELD. I WAS EXCITED FOR THIS SEASON AS HE HAS BEEN CHASING ANY AND EVERY BIRD THAT MOVES AT HOME IN THE YARD. TOOK HIM TO FARM EARLY THIS MONTH AND NOTHING!!!! NO DESIRE, DRIVE, LITTLE IF ANY NOSE WORK.

HELP!!! HELP!!!

[The General]

My advice would be to get some live birds and plant them in the field.  Also get one in his face to get the dog excited.  throw the bird and let the dog go get it.  Don't forget to clip the wings so it can't fly away.  Pigeons or chuckars are pretty cheap.

Scratch that......I see you have been taking the dog to the game farm so I would bet you have been doing that already. 

[Mayfly]

ANYONE! I NEED HELP!

I have a 16 month Golden as well. Got him at 4 months. First attempt at dog training. Started him right away. Had a Wolters book and picked up a Wolters Gun Dog video. Took him out last season at 8 months for exposure to upland. have worked him for 2 seasons at game farm.

How did he do last year? Was he interested then?

[thunderpout]

Get some pigeons, I have worked my dogs with em all the time... their cheap and re-useable if you tether em.  Ive refered to the Wolters book, gun dog, with all my dogs.  Some of the things I wouldnt follow so strictly, like the timeframe he uses, but its one of the best books out there, and I've read a lot of em.  Also, when using pigeons, only use flyers...if there the fancy type the'll just sit there and wont get your dog amped up as much...let me know if ya need help finding some...      -thunderpout 8)

[Buster]

Mayfly,
He wasn't that birdy last year either. My neighbor who has trained a couple of upland/water dogs suggested bringing a shot bird back from farm, skinning it keeping wings,tail legs attached and stuff smaller bumper inside and work him with that which I did end of season. The dog really went after it! I let him do whatever he wanted just to awaken birdyness. I dragged it on a rope, threw it. He would retrieve it shake it in his mouth and literally tear it up. That's why his lack of interest this year disappoints me.

[The General]

Buster I have ran into this exact problem before.  My cousin has a lab/mix and his dog would do the retreive in the yard act birdy and he has done everything you have been doing and still no performance in the field.  His dog is acting just like yours.  I took his dog for him for a month and sometimes him if he could get off.  I took my dog and his out at the same time.  My dog would be doing what was supposed to be done.  His dog (even though fixed)  would just chase after my dog and try to get it's groove on.  Then my dog went on point and his dog didn't understand what was going on.  By accident his dog flushed the bird and it flew a bit and we shot it down.  You could see the switch turn on in his dog.  It started hunting and realised what it was supposed to do.  I have also seen this work in other cases.  We learn things by doing or seeing them done and I would bet most of us had a few good teachers along the way.  Get your dog a teacher.

[blazer]

Buster:

I second what the general said regarding working your dog with a more experienced dog.  I took my 14 month old lab/golden retriever mix out to a game farm with a buddies 3 year old professional trained lab.  I was having a problem with my dog retrieving for me, but once she saw the other dog retrieving and all the praise he was getting something clicked and the next thing I know she was brining me downed birds and working the field like a pro.  Hope this helps. ::cheers::

[Buster]

Blazer and The General,

I have been hunting with my neighbor and his well trained lab or with other dogs all along except the trip earlier this month, where my son and I took the dog ourselves to the farm. My neighbor and I have also praised the heck out of his dog upon retrieve and ignored my dog as that has worked also for another hunting partners reluctant dog. 

[labs4me]

Buster,

Where do you live?

Good Luck!

Ken

[thunderpout]

guys, all those are good positive things, and they will all definatly help... but I garranty ya the best way to get em amped up and birdy, is with birds... Ive got a pretty laid back english setter, and if ya didnt know better youd think he was a big lap dog, but just whisper "bird" and he lights up, just associate birds of some sort with fun, he'll come around.  Dont repremand him if he isnt catchin on at first, if he aint clicken on a training outing, call it a day, keep it positive and come back at it again.  The "teacher" dog may help, but it can also teach em bad habits like the one you said where one dog pointed, and then he bumped the bird,  that may have showed him its ok to bump birds, and maybe with out smelling the bird.  Any way Yep, keep it all positive and fun and get some pigeons, then hit a game farm for some chukars, or get some yourself and read up on how to plant birds and such, borrow a live bird launcher from someone if you can.... Good  luck!   -thunderpout 8)

[The General]

If you have done the other dog as a teacher and the live birds example I will also state this and it may not be something that you want to hear and buy all means i don't mean to be cruel.  But some dogs just don't have "it".  I have never taught a hunting dog to hunt.  It either has the instincts or it doesn't.  I have taught a dog to sit and heal and etc.  but hunting you can tell.  I used to breed springers.  I would always take the pups at about 6 or 7 months and hold them all back and release a pheasant or chucker.  Most of the time every dog went in for the kill.  But every once in awhile one pup would just as soon chase it's tail then get after that bird.  When that pup would grow up it was just the same.  I would sell it as a pet and not a hunting partner.  Both my dog and the sire would have champion this and that but every 3rd or 4th litter a pup like this would come along.   I hope this isn't the case for you but maybe you might want to take it to a professional for his/her pont of view.

[rchaze60]

I have taken him to a pro and the spark is there so now all I have to do is bring it out more which is what I am doing and it is getting better I know it is going to just take time which is what we got

[Buster]

Everyone,

Thanks for the 2 cents! ::cheers:: Have talked with others with essentially same advice. Will continue the fight, and know he may just not have "it".  sad3.gifHe is a great dog otherwise, tons of personality.

Labs4me, live in SE metro-Cottage Grove.
 
P.S. does anyone know where a guy can pick up pidgeons or chuckar. The game farm I belong to is in Menomonie WI an hour away.

[thunderpout]

Buster,  I get mine from a pigeon racer/breeder in the north side of Roseville.....Youre in cottage grove? Is Roseville too far away?  Ill look up his number for ya...    -thunderpout 8)

[rchaze60]

I wouldnt mind the number to him either TP...... I need to get some birds to work with my dog too cause when I was up at Little Moran he showed some interest in birds and I feel if I had some live ones it will go better in the training



  Randy

[labs4me]

O.K. buster... I live in Cottage Grove too!  Let's get your dog up and hunting!  I promise you nothing other than some time and knowledge... I used to train dogs as a second income back in the 90's... Ran trials and hunt tests for a decade,  I turned many dogs around over those years... Let's see if I have one more rabbit up my sleeve!  Call me on my cell (651.341.4581). I will be gone this weekend, but we should start next week.  I have a plan.  I am also working with a young dog right now to teach him to hunt and we can kill 2 birds with one stone.  Let's get this done so you and your boy can get out hunting with your dog!!!!

Rchaze... if your feel you're in the same boat, feel free to join in too... as long as he is a retriever or flusher.  I know very little about pointers.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Buster]

labs4me,

I will contact you later today. Thanks for the offer.

Mark

[nolmscheid]

Anyone know where I can buy pigeons in the St. Michael/Albertville area for puppy training?

-Nathan

[Spinach]

Don't give up yet. I had the same issue with my Weimaraner a long time ago, she is 7 years old now.

I took her out back in the fall of 2000 and she was very birdy, retrieved decent and found birds for me, I was very excited to see her natural hunting ability for being her first season and so young.

The next year came and shortly before the season we started some field work with Chukars, again she was doing great, once the season started she backtracked a lot and just didn't seem to have it any more. We kept hunting all year on the same property in Stillwater, which there were very few birds, she kept getting worse, walking in front of me and not really having the energy she had the prior season.

Towards the end of the season, i decided that I should stop hunting her on this property, mainly because there were no birds and she was thinking we were just out playing in the fields. I took her to the game farm a few times late that season and kept her on birds as much as possible, when we weren't at the game farm, i'd buy a half dozen Chukar and go back out to Stillwater.

She was back to hunting hard and doing a great job again once i kept her on birds.

Every year since then, she has been awesome in the field and does everything that I trained her to do, i couldn;t be any happier!

Thinking back, i learned a huge lesson, i was hunting her on 200 acres of birdless property and she knew it.....

Even to this day, she will not get very excited over a dead bird that I bring home for training, she gets her adrenaline from the hunt and carrys that over to locating, pointing and retrieving anything we shoot.

Just keep your dog on birds and you'll know very soon if she has it or not. I'm betting she'll be just fine.

Make sure you take Labs up on his offer to help out, he really knows Retrievers well.